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Monday, April 9, 2012

If someone walked up to you and said, "Howdy, I'm your
third cousin, twice removed," would you have any idea what they meant?
Most people have a good understanding of basic relationship words such as
"mother," "father," "aunt," "uncle,"
"brother," and "sister." But what about the relationship
terms that we don't use in everyday speech? Terms like "second
cousin" and "first cousin, once removed"? We don't tend to speak
about our relationships in such exact terms ("cousin" seems good
enough when you are introducing one person to another), so most of us aren't
familiar with what these words mean.

Relationship
Terms

Sometimes, especially when
working on your family history, it's handy to know how to describe your family
relationships more exactly. The definitions below should help you out.

Cousin (a.k.a "first cousin")

Your first cousins are the people in your family who
have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children
of your aunts and uncles.

Second Cousin

Your second cousins are the people in your family who
have the same great-grandparents as you., but not the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cousins

Your third cousins have the same great great
grandparents, fourth cousins have the same great-great-great-grandparents, and
so on.

Removed

When the word "removed" is used to describe
a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different
generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations
younger than your grandparents), so the word "removed" is not used
to describe your relationship.

The words "once removed" mean that there is
a difference of one generation. For example, your mother's first cousin is your
first cousin, once removed. This is because your mother's first cousin is one
generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger
than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals "once
removed."

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation
difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your
grandmother, so you and your grandmother's first cousin are first cousins,
twice removed.

Relationship Charts Simplify Everything

Now that you have an idea of what
these different words mean, take a look at the chart below. It's called a
relationship chart, and it can help you figure out how different people in your
family are related. It's much simpler than it looks, just follow the
instructions.

Instructions:

This chart attempts to explain
the relationships that exist between cousins. It may be extended in either
direction for as many generations as is necessary. The parents represent
the common ancestors you have with your relative. Count across the top row
until you reach your generation. Now count down this column until you reach
your relative's generation.

parents

child

g-child

gg-child

ggg-child

gggg-child

child

brother/
sister

nephew/
niece

g-nephew/
g-niece

gg-nephew/
gg-niece

ggg-nephew/
ggg-niece

g-child

uncle/
aunt

first cousin

first cousin
once removed

first cousin
twice removed

first cousin
thrice removed

gg-child

g-uncle/
g-aunt

first cousin
once removed

second cousin

second cousin
once removed

Second cousin
twice removed

ggg-child

gg-uncle/
gg-aunt

first cousin
twice removed

second cousin
once removed

third cousin

third cousin
once removed

gggg-child

ggg-uncle/
ggg-aunt

first cousin
thrice removed

second cousin
twice removed

third cousin
once removed

fourth cousin

This
gives you your relationship to your relative.If you have only one common ancestor with your relative
(perhaps this ancestor had multiple marriages), then the same chart applies but
the relationships are half blood instead of full blood.
In general, the person in the first row is the ***** of the person
in the first column. ***** stands for the appropriate table entry, eg. sister, uncle,
second cousin, etc.

Example:Suppose I want to find out my relationship to the son of my
grandmother's brother. Then the common ancestors that we share are my
great-grandparents, which are his grandparents. (I am assuming a full blood
relationship). Therefore, reading from the chart we find that

parents

child

g-child

ME!

child

brother/
sister

nephew/
niece

g-nephew/
g-niece

RELATIVE!

uncle/
aunt

first cousin

first cousin
once removed

I am thefirst cousin once removedof this relative!

Another Chart for Figuring Relationships

On the top row, find the relationship of one person to the
common ancestor and follow the column straight down. Find the other person's
relationship to the common ancestor on the left-hand column and follow that row
straight across. The relationship is where the projected row and column meet.